Trump once told college grads to go through, over any ‘concrete wall’

Trump once told college grads to go through, over any ‘concrete wall’

President Donald Trump once had a very different take on the effectiveness of a concrete wall, urging a class of college graduates 15 years ago to go over, through, or around any walls they encounter.

“Never, ever give up. Don’t give up. Don’t allow it to happen,” he said. “If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it. Go over it. Go around it. But get to the other side of that wall.”

The remarks came from a commencement address Trump gave to Wagner College in 2004. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” unearthed the footage and aired it during Wednesday evening’s episode.

“If there’s one thing we know, it’s that nothing will stop immigrants from trying to come to America,” the host, Trevor Noah, said. “This is a place that people dream of coming to, because people trying to make a better, safer life for their families will do anything to achieve that dream. And I know Donald Trump understands this — because of this video we found from 15 years ago.”

The resurfaced video comes amid an ongoing partial government shutdown over Trump’s border wall, for which he has demanded $5.7 billion from Congress.

Though Trump has recently backed down on his demands that the wall be made of concrete — pivoting instead to “steel slats” — he has refused to back down on the wall.

Trump gave his first prime-time, Oval Office address to the nation on Tuesday, warning that the US-Mexico border was in a state of “crisis,” even though border-crossing arrests are at a decades-long low.

“This barrier is absolutely critical to border security,” Trump said. “This is just common sense.”